Monday, March 12, 2018
Meeting on Major Bike Infrastructure Additions For Hunter Mill District
Among the changes FCDOT and VDOT are proposing for North Reston, there will be bike lanes added to Bennington Woods Drive, Temporary Road, Explorer Street; buffered bike lanes on Bluemont Drive, Bracknell Road, Bennington Woods Road, Fountain Drive and Walnut Branch Road; and a northbound bike lane and southbound shared lane markings (sharrows) on North Short Drive and Bowman Town Drive.
For South Reston, FCDOT and VDOT have proposed extending the existing bike lanes on Lawyers Road west to Reston Parkway and east to Hunter Mill Road with a buffer between the bike lanes and travel lanes where space allows. The county and state transportation planners also are are proposing to upgrade existing lanes to or add new buffered bike lanes to Pinecrest Road, Soapstone Drive, and South Lakes Drive. Finally, bike lanes also will be added to Ridge Heights Road and Braeburn Drive.
Labels: FCDOT, hunter mill district, north reston, south reston, vdot
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
FABB January Meeting to Focus on Herndon-Great Falls-Hunter Mill
Please plan on joining FABB next week for our monthly meeting, which will feature bicycling and related issues in the Hunter Mill District, Town of Herndon, and Great Falls areas. We will be meeting on Wednesday, 18 January, from 7:30pm to 9:30pm at the Herndon Fortnightly Library, 768 Center St, Herndon.
In 2017 FABB will be continuing the practice started last year of holding its monthly meetings throughout Fairfax County in the various magisterial districts and associated jurisdictions. Changing venues has allowed us to be more inclusive by encouraging attendance from local residents near the venues and making it easier for government officials or their representatives to participate in the often lively discussions about bicycle-related needs and concerns.
Among the guest speakers on the 18th we will have FCDOT's Adam Lind or a colleague there to talk about progress on and upcoming plans for implementing the County's bicycle master plan in the Hunter Mill-Herndon-Great Falls areas. There will be a question-and-answer period as well as FABB's usual program of providing updates and sharing information about our upcoming activities, bicycling-related public meetings, and other bicycle advocacy opportunities.
See you there!
Labels: bicycle master plan, great falls, herndon, hunter mill district, monthly meeting
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Opportunity to Promote Safe Places to Bike and Walk in Hunter Mill
The Hunter Mill Land Use Committee, a volunteer citizen advisory group that serves county neighborhoods outside of Herndon, Reston and Vienna, has several volunteer positions open. A background in land use and planning is not necessary to be a member. But, the committee is a voice for citizens with developers to encourage the building and maintaining of infrastructure that promotes safe, active, and healthy living through better places to walk and bike.If you are interested in or have questions about joining the committee, please contact Supervisor Cathy Hudgins' office at 703-478-0283, TTY 711, or at huntermill@fairfaxcounty.gov.
Labels: Cathy Hudgins, hunter mill district, hunter mill land use committee
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
North County Government Center still without bike parking
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| Plenty of room for bike parking in front of the North County Government Center |
Earlier we reported on new bike racks improperly installed at the Providence Community Center. U racks were used but they were installed on the edge of the concrete, meaning that one wheel would be in the grass. After we complained, additional concrete was added to the edge and one of the racks, which was too close to the adjacent railing, was removed.
We've been advocating for bike parking guidelines since 2007. The guidelines still aren't final and the county still hasn't figured out how to purchase and install racks properly. They are making progress, but it's been much too slow.
Labels: bike parking, bike parking guidelines, bike racks, hunter mill district
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Fairfax Co Parkway trail closed at Toll Road
There was a VDOT truck parked next to the repaving operation. The person inside the truck said that everything would be OK in another day or so. I let him know that everything wasn't OK today and that VDOT should not close a trail without providing a detour, as we outlined in an earlier post on the closing of the Parkway trail south of Route 50.
Then the VDOT person said that there was supposed to be a flag person guiding bicyclists around the construction. We later heard from another cyclists who has been by the site earlier in the day, that the trail was closed then. That cyclist has contacted the VDOT bike/ped coordinator and the Hunter Mill District Office. We plan to do the same. If you use this trail, please contact VDOT and the HM office.
The Parkway trail is a major commuter route for cyclists. It's inexcusable that VDOT feels they can completely close the trail, with no prior warning, no warning signs far enough in advance to be useful to cyclists and pedestrians, and no detour. VDOT can talk about accommodating cyclists all they want, but until they provide adequate access through construction sites, that talk means little. Cycling is a viable transportation option that needs to be treated like other options, and until VDOT embraces that philosophy, we'll continue to have to fight this type of injustice.
Labels: fairfax county parkway trail, hunter mill district, vdot
Friday, October 22, 2010
Encouraging more kids to walk and bike to school
This week members of FABB and some concerned parents met with Supervisor Hudgins to discuss how Fairfax County and the Fairfax school system can be more supportive of kids walking and biking to school. From past experience we know that the benefits of walking and biking to school are rarely if ever mentioned to parents by the school system. The problems associated with driving kids to school, such as increased congestion and air pollution, are also not discussed.Instead we build kiss-and-ride lots to facilitate this behavior, making traffic at schools worse. According to one teacher who bikes to school, the most dangerous place for him to ride is the immediate area around the school. In one study it's been estimated that around 21-27% of morning traffic is attributed to parents driving their children to school.
There is a misconception that by encouraging kids to use active transportation that the schools will be liable if a student is injured on the way to school. According to 10 Tips for Safe Routes to School Programs and Liability,
A school will not ordinarily be held liable for injuries sustained by children while they are walking or bicycling to school simply because the school encourages children to walk or bike, where injuries occur off school property, and parents have been reminded that the school is not responsible for supervising children who walk or bike to school.
The FCPS Transportation Services FAQ addresses this issue. If there are liability issues, the Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS) is one way to address them. Unfortunately Fairfax County, the largest school district in the state, has received approximately $10,000 of the $13 million available for SRTS in Virginia.Supervisor Hudgins is very supportive of more kids having the option of safely walking or biking to school and of the SRTS program.With her help we hope to provide a briefing on SRTS to the Board of Supervisors and the school board in the near future. We also hope to identify a school in the Hunter Mill District for implementation of a SRTS program. With new CDC report indicating that one in three adults will have diabetes by 2050, isn't it time that we made it possible for kids to get more exercise by the simple act of walking or biking to school?
Labels: hunter mill district, safe routes to school, supervisor hudgins
Monday, March 23, 2009
Hunter Mill District ped/bike summit
The Annual Hunter Mill District Pedestrian and Bicycling Summit will take place on Tuesday, March 24th, 7-9 p.m. at the North County Governmental Center, 12000 Bowman Towne Drive, Reston. This is the draft agenda:Part 1 - Where we are
- 7:00-7:10 Welcome—Supervisor Cathy Hudgins
- 7:10-7:20 County Pedestrian Program HMD Update—Chris Wells (includes Beulah Road Trail/RMAG Priorities) with 5 minutes for Q & A
- 7:25-7:35 County Bicycling Program HMD Update—Charlie Strunk. W & OD Safety Improvements, 5 minutes for Q & A
- 7:40-7:50 "Think of the Impact You Could Make"—Lt. Brian Hall (Reston District Police Station) (Ped/Crosswalk Safety), 5 minutes for Q & A
- 7:55-8:05 New Pedestrian Priorities—Doug Pew, 5 minutes for Q & A
- 8:10 - 8:15 Funding Challenges And Possibilities—Chris Wells
- 8:15 - 8:25 - Connecting Tysons—Jenifer Joy Madden
- 8:30 - 8:45 - Audience priorities
- 8:45 - 9:00 PM - Goals for next year
Labels: hunter mill district, ped/bike summit
